"Wisdom" from the Web

Here are some memorable quotes I found on the internet. My corresponding numbered responses are at the end.

**************

1. “Worse. The way we used to train physicians is that you worked all the time. You were on call all the time. Medicine was holy work—a calling. It was a privilege and an honor—you should sacrifice everything. Everything else came second. It didn’t matter if you didn’t eat during the day, it didn’t matter if you didn’t sleep. Now, the thinking is, if people don’t sleep they make mistakes, and if they make mistakes it’s bad for the hospital. So residents are being taught medicine as a career choice as opposed to a profession, a calling. They’re being taught as shift workers, which I think is a huge problem. When that clock hits a certain time, they have to leave the hospital.”
--An anonymous physician’s answer to the question: Is doctor training better or worse than it used to be?

2. “Absolutely. Patients get these gowns that hardly cover half the body. And the chairs are not comfortable. At the sickest point in their life, they’re sharing a bathroom with strangers.”
--Another anonymous physician’s answer to the question: People complain that hospitals are dehumanizing. True?

3. “I single-handedly destroyed an ecosystem that year.”
--an intern speaking of the amount of paper he used during internship.

4. "When you don't know something, didn't check it, or forgot -- admit it. Never, ever, ever, ever say it was "normal" or "fine". This is the cardinal sin during internship. If you do this and are caught (and trust me, you will be caught somewhere along the line), your trust/reliability will be blown and it is very difficult to get it back. High school, college, and medical school are all about hiding what you don't know. Internship is all about showing those you are working with what you don't know so they can teach you. This is very difficult since you are out of practice. "
-A physician's advice for the intern

*********************

My responses, numbered for above:

1. I don't agree with this physician at all. Why would anyone think a stressed out physician who's getting a divorce and on the verge of a drinking problem would make a better physician? That's not a stereotype but rather an accurate description of WAY too many docs. I plan to be a doctor who (*shock*) sleeps and eats reasonably well, and yes, I actually plan to follow the very recommendations I give my patients, namely, eat healthy, exercise regularly, and decrease stress. Okay, maybe I won't be a super housekeeper and might even become a recluse in the social scene, but I plan to take care of myself during residency, dammit! And I won't feel guilty about it!

2. and 3. These two quotes are uncannily true and funny.

4. *Nodding* in agreement. Amen to that advice.